Peats “World Of Electronics” – 75 Employees Lose Their Jobs

It is with deep sadness and regret that the family owned business of Peats ‘World of Electronics’, the long established and well-known Dublin electronics retail company is to seek the appointment of a Liquidator in an upcoming voluntary creditor’s liquidation.

The Chairman of the business, Ben Peat, briefed the company’s 75-staff today at the company’s head-office store in Parnell St and told staff that the company could not continue to trade in light of its current financial constraints confirming that the company’s eleven stores around Dublin have closed with immediate effect.

Mr Peat told staff that a combination of recession impacts, unsustainably high rental costs and a changing marketplace in which online shopping was eating into high street retailing, meant that the business cannot continue to trade going into the upcoming lean summer. Mr Peat said that “the business generated 60% of its annual sales in the period November to January, and that a summer’s spend could not carry the business, to allow it to continue. It is evident in our experience that consumers have little discretionary spend at this time and sales volumes are up to 50% down on peak 2007 spend, while in parallel it has not been possible to achieve appropriate rental adjustment to enable a profit margin to be achieved to sustain business viability. The sector in which we operate has been disproportionately affected by the downturn, if we don’t close now our capacity to settle our affairs to best effect will only further deteriorate”, Mr Peat said.

Mr Peat told staff that “Trade hit its peak in 2007, with turnover that year of €24m, it has since re-trenched to less than half for the current year” and thanking staff, customers and suppliers, he continued, “the Company had a fine heritage for quality, decency and value, it became a popular name on the Dublin retail landscape and it’s departure from the high-street will be a loss to the tradition of family retailing in Dublin. Thanking customers he said, it is with deep regret that we have to close the doors of our ‘world of electronics business’, – we have tried very hard to establish solutions with suppliers and landlords that could have brought balance and sustainability back into our business. We have implemented extensive cost-reduction at all levels including payroll and terms of employment, but unfortunately it is beyond our power to continue in operation and we have to protect our staff, creditors, debtors and legal interests to best possible effect and do right by all concerned as far as is both humanly and financially possible. We cannot allow our situation to deteriorate further – as we do not want to compromise our capacity to secure the best possible outcome for all out of what is a difficult situation”

Thanking staff for their support and loyalty in a number of cases for over thirty years, Mr Peat said that staff will be paid their entitlements and redundancy due in full, and asked for their support for both colleagues and the business in the coming days, while the business settled its affairs to the very best of its ability to do so. He commented that over the years Peat’s staff have always been exceptional, there was one big extended family within which three generations of the Peat family still currently work.

Peats began life in Parnell Street in 1934 when Brigit and William Peat set up shop to sell wet cell batteries, bicycles, furniture and prams. All six of their children joined the business and their youngest son, Ben Peat is the current chairman. In its early years the company began to develop the electronics side of the business selling radiograms, followed by three-in-one hi-fi systems and contemporary products including repair services, to the present day sales of an assembly of electronic home entertainment products including flat screen TV’s, cameras, computer laptops and accessories.

Peats’ eleven stores are located throughout Dublin, with its head office in Parnell St; the Company also has stores in Blanchardstown Shopping Centre, College Green, Rathmines, Swords and in the Whitewater Shopping Centre in Newbridge. It also operated a number of Sony Centre shops under the Sony Centre identity. These outlets are located in the Jervis Shopping Centre, on O’Connell St, in Dun Laoghaire, in the Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre and also on Stephen’s Green, close to the Shelbourne Hotel.

All stores have now been closed and telephone calls will automatically be directed to a call centre to accommodate any enquiries arising, so that they can be logged and dealt with as efficiently and as soon as possible.

In making enquiries customers are invited to call 01-9023718 or to Email: admin@peats.com

Dude, there’s some guy taking my picture! What should I do?

Image by Ed Yourdon
It was hard to resist taking several pictures of this young woman: she seemed so clean-cut, attractive, and well dressed as she stood in the square while chatting on her cell phone.

She then marched back and forth several paces, then went into the entrance to the 72nd Street subway station, came back out again, marched around, continued chattering on her cell phone, and occasionally glanced at me with a puzzled look as I snapped several pictures. A good ten minutes went by until she finally disappeared for good into the subway station, still chattering away on her cell phone…

This is part of an evolving photo-project, which will probably continue throughout the summer of 2008, and perhaps beyond: a random collection of "interesting" people in a broad stretch of the Upper West Side of Manhattan — between 72nd Street and 104th Street, especially along Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue.

I don’t like to intrude on people’s privacy, so I normally use a telephoto lens in order to photograph them while they’re still 50-100 feet away from me; but that means I have to continue focusing my attention on the people and activities half a block away, rather than on what’s right in front of me.

I’ve also learned that, in many cases, the opportunities for an interesting picture are very fleeting — literally a matter of a couple of seconds, before the person(s) in question move on, turn away, or stop doing whatever was interesting. So I’ve learned to keep the camera switched on (which contradicts my traditional urge to conserve battery power), and not worry so much about zooming in for a perfectly-framed picture … after all, once the digital image is uploaded to my computer, it’s pretty trivial to crop out the parts unrelated to the main subject.

For the most part, I’ve deliberately avoided photographing bums, drunks, drunks, and crazy people. There are a few of them around, and they would certainly create some dramatic pictures; but they generally don’t want to be photographed, and I don’t want to feel like I’m taking advantage of them. I’m still looking for opportunities to take some "sympathetic" pictures of such people, which might inspire others to reach out and help them. We’ll see how it goes …

The only other thing I’ve noticed, thus far, is that while there are lots of interesting people to photograph, there are far, far, far more people who are not so interesting. They’re probably fine people, and they might even be more interesting than the ones I’ve photographed … but there was just nothing memorable about them.

I’m really glad you finally got the chance to visit the Pour House and Starry Night! The music acts that play in the evenings are usually little local bands or solo musicians, and they are always enjoyable.

Alyssa, they were both great – I think this one would be my first pick, maybe because you can walk around Main Street, which I’ve always liked to do.

I was impressed with the way they laid out Starry Night – pretty innovative stuff, and the staff at both places were really good, too. Earl and I need to take you to Red Canoe in B-more some time! Thanks again!

Hi Kim – I picked it because one of the blurbs was by one of my favorite writers, Seth Godin. It’s called "Monday Morning Choices." I’m just into it, and it breaks down into three areas: character choices, action choices and investment (as in investing in people) choices. His premise is that if you start out on Monday with a particular focus, it will end up having an effect on the rest of the week. Pretty good so far! Hi Aimzee – there is more tea to try than I imagined . . . I keep hitting new ones to try out!

I love your coffee house shots but this, once again, proves what I have said many times – Westminster didn’t get anything cool until Jeff and I moved away! Then it got…well…everything! We didn’t even have a nice little coffee shop when we lived there…hope all is going well with you and Debbie and Earl!

With great sadness Max has to report that the Pour house fell on hard times, and is (as of November) closed. If it will open and be a coffee shop again is at this point unknown, as is the fate of the stained glass valences for the windows.